Away From Home
by Extreme Light 9
Summary: <html><head></head>Sequel to 'Until The End'. After they finally stopped Blowhole the penguins must now save their zoo from Hans and take back what they lost, but will their lives be the same again? Rico knows more than they think.</html>
1. Chapter 1 - Aftermath

**Chapter 1 – Aftermath **

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm so excited to start this new fanfic. To all who hadn't read 'Until The End' this story might cause some confusion so you need to read it first.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Penguins of Madagascar.**

**PoM**

**Previously**

"_Do you really think just by defeating me means that it's over?" asked Blowhole. Everyone turned to him._

"_What do you mean?" Skipper asked back._

"_When you and Private left the zoo to look for your teammates I have sent Hans and some of my troops to invade the zoo. They have put it under their control and imprisoned all your friends. Now you have no home to return to!"_

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

It's been a week since Hans and Blowhole's army raided the zoo and took over it. No human visitors have come and Alice for some reason hasn't been around ever since the incident.

Meanwhile, two lobsters were standing in front of the zoo guarding it. "So any news about Dr. Blowhole yet?" the first lobster asked.

"No, the last time he called us was two days ago. I dunno why he-"before he could finish his sentence four figures jumped out of the shadow and knocked them both unconscious.

"Well done, boys!" said Skipper as he turned face their zoo. It looked a lot different than he remembered. There was a huge 'closed' sign hanging on the main gate. Hans must have placed it there to keep all humans away. "Alright, boys. We're going in!" he stated with determination, but Kowalski quickly stopped him before he could.

"Skipper we can't just break in. We don't know how many enemies are there. Blowhole took all the weapons from inside Rico when he captured us. If we go in there we'll risk getting caught." Kowalski explained.

"But the others-"

"I know. I'm worried about them too, but we shouldn't do anything rash." he said softly.

Skipper sighed, finally calming down. "Fine, what do you suggest we should do?"

Kowalski smiled. "I believe we must find a safe place where we could plan our next move. It needs to be close from here so we can keep an eye on what's happening inside the zoo at all time."

"But where could we go?" Private asked.

Skipper thought for a moment. They needed a temporary place to stay until they get back their zoo and friends, but where would that be? "Don't worry Private. I'm sure we'll figure something out." he said. After that said they turned around and walked away. Private took one final glance at their former home before following the others.

"Skippah, do you think everyone is okay in there?" Private looked up to him with a worried look in his eyes.

Skipper hesitated, but answered him. "I hope so."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, Marlene was sitting against the wall of her cell. The room around her was dark and the only light was coming from a small widow above them. She didn't know where she was or how long have she been there, but she wanted to get out soon. Bored, she looked over to Maurice and Mort who were standing quietly near their king who busy negotiating with the lobster guards.

"So how about this, I'll give you six mangoes and three coconuts to release the king, no?" Julian said behind the bars. The guards didn't respond.

"Okay how about six mangoes, three coconuts, plus Mort to let me leave? Not bad, right?" he grinned sheepishly making the two guards groan with annoyance. Marlene rolled her eyes at this. _We might not be getting out of here anytime soon_. She sighed and looked up to the window above with concern.

"Skipper, where are you?" she said to herself. It's been so long since he and Private went on that rescue mission to save and Rico from Blowhole and they haven't come back yet. What's taking them so long? Did something happen to them? Wherever they were she hoped they were alright.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

It was soon midday. The penguins found a small abandoned warehouse in the park and decided to stay in it. Skipper stood in front of his men to give a speech. "Listen boys. I won't lie to you but the upcoming days won't be easy for us. Hans took our home and locked away all our friends and I take full responsibility for that. I shouldn't have let this happen. Even if we'll have to start from scratch I will do all I can to keep this unit together and I expect you all to do the same, understood?"

The three penguins smiled and saluted him. "Yes, sir!"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: So, what do you think of it? Let me know by reviewing.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Private's sickness

**Chapter 2 – Private's sickness**

**A/N: Hey everyone! Before we start I would like to thank everyone who reviewed last time, specifically: Aquade, the writer story and Othmaine.**

**Aquade: You're right! That's exactly what they will do.**

**Here's chapter two. Enjoy the read.**

**PoM**

It was afternoon in Central Park. Kowalski sighed as he came back from another recon mission. He walked towards the warehouse and knocked the door. Soon enough Private opened the door and smiled at seeing him.

"Welcome back, Kowalski!" he said cheerfully. Kowalski smiled back and followed him inside.

Skipper meanwhile was sitting on the floor since they had no chairs waiting for him. "So did you find anything, soldier?" he asked hopefully.

Kowalski shook his head. "I'm sorry Skipper, but I couldn't find any safe entry points we could use. There's simply no way we could get inside the zoo without getting anyone's attention. If only we could find a way to contact the zoo animals from the inside. They might give us the information we need."

Skipper rubbed his chin and then looked at him. "Can't you invent something that could help us with that?"

"I could, but I don't have my tools or the right material to build anything. All my inventions are back in my lab." he said. The idea of lobsters and Hans touching his stuff made him shudder.

"What if we bring you the things you need for the invention from the city. I bet we can find a lot of stuff in stores." Private suggested. Kowalski thought for a moment and nodded in approval.

"That might work!" he exclaimed.

Skipper grinned. "Alright, you two will stay here and watch over the place while Rico and I go get those items."

Everyone nodded in understanding. Kowalski then wrote down a list of the things he'll need for the device and gave it to Skipper before they left.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, Hans was walking through the zoo with his flippers behind his back. He looked around the habitats and smiled. After all his failed attempts he finally managed to take over the zoo. Everything was going his way now. He stopped when he reached the penguin habitat where a few lobsters were searching the place. The fence around the habitat was removed and a wooden board was placed for them to cross.

"Did you find anything?" he asked one of the lobsters.

"Not yet sir, but we'll continue looking." he said and returned to work. Hans then heard the sound heavy foot steps behind him. He turned around and saw the rat king coming his way.

"Hey bird, whatcha doing over there?" he asked.

Hans began to panic. "W-What….me…uh…..well…..we were looking for…..weapons inside their habitats. You never know what their keeping in there, right?" he said nervously, hoping to convince him.

The rat king eyed him suspiciously for a moment and then shrugged. "Okay." he said and walked away.

The puffin let out a sigh of relief. "That was close…." he looked back to the penguin habitat and an evil grin appeared on his beak.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Back to the penguins, Skipper and Rico were gathering items in a store.

"This is the last one!" Skipper exclaimed and gave Rico the screw driver. After swallowing it Rico gave himself a pat on his belly, glad having something inside it again. It gave him a sense of normalcy. He never liked the feeling of emptiness he felt before.

"Alright, let's go back to the warehouse. Private and Kowalski are probably waiting for us." his leader said and they both excited the store. As they made their way back to the park Skipper for some reason couldn't help but to feel as if something terrible was about to happen soon. He felt his insides turn and concern filling him, but he quickly shook the thought away and continued walking. When they arrived at the warehouse Kowalski was waiting for them. He had a panicky and worried look on his face.

"Kowalski? What are you doing out here?" he asked him.

"Follow me." he said quickly. Rico and Skipper exchanged glances and followed him inside. Kowalski then pointed at what concerned him. Skipper heart sank at what he saw. Private was lying on the floor motionless.

"Private!" he quickly rushed to his side. His forehead was hot to the touch and his body was trembling. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know. We we're talking one moment and then all of a sudden he passed out. I think he has a fever." The three of them then carried him to the corner where he can rest. Skipper came with a thin blanket and covered him with it. Private looked tired and weak at the moments which saddened them deeply. Skipper knew they should have dealt with his sickness before it got worse than earlier, but they completely forgot about it. He mentally slapped himself for forgetting something so important. He jumped back when Private let out a loud hoarse cough.

Skipper looked up to Kowalski for a solution. "Don't we have anything to ease his fever in here?"

"I'll go check." Kowalski then walked away from the trio. After few minutes he came back with bowl of water and a cloth. He soaked it with water and placed it on his forehead to cool him down. Skipper wished they could do more than that. If they could they would have taken him to the zoo hospital, but they can't which angered him.

He looked at Kowalski with a serious look on his face. "Kowalski, how much time do you need to finish that invention?"

Kowalski rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. "About four hours, but why do you ask?" both him and Rico gave a questioning look.

Skipper stood up. "Because we're gonna break in there and look for Marlene and the others tonight!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: We now know that Hans has more than one reason to invade the zoo. He's looking for something, but what is it? In the next chapter the penguins will break into the zoo to find Marlene and the other animals.**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Breaking in

**Chapter 3 – Breaking in**

**A/N: Here's chapter three, I hope you all enjoy it.**

**PoM**

Skipper was sitting close to Private's sleeping form, a thoughtful look on his face. He assumed it was past 11: 30 which meant all their enemies were probably asleep by now. He looked over to Kowalski who was tinkering with his new tools and invention and hasn't said a word in a while now. He then looked over to Rico who was busy swallowing whatever he could find in the old warehouse such as spoons and a flash light. A small smile spread across Skipper's face, glad seeing some things haven't changed after all what they went through. Then it him.

What if he couldn't do it?

The penguin's eyes widen at the sudden realization. What if he couldn't fix this? What if they can't save their zoo and friends? What if it will always be like this? Skipper shook quickly shook his head. _Now was not the time to think like that._

"Alright, I've finished it!" Kowalski declared proudly. Skipper snapped from his own thoughts and looked at him.

"Well done soldier! So how does it work?" he asked as he took the small device.

"It's just like the walkie-talkie Alice always uses. All you have to do is press on the small red button there and give the other to one of the zoo animals. Once you do that you'll be able to talk them freely. I call it the PCD. If three people had one of these you be able to talk to them all at once." Kowalski explained then his smiled turned into a frown. "Skipper, do you really want to do this? I mean I've check more than once and there are no safe entry points. If you tried to crash in they might capture you and then they'll come to look for us. I don't think we can fight back and keep Private safe at the same time."

Skipper looked thoughtful for a moment and then answered. "You might have a point there, but we at least have to try. Everyone is counting on us to come and save them. We can't stop now after all we've come so far." he stated. Rico stood next to him and nodded eagerly.

Kowalski sighed and smiled again. "Okay, you two can go. I will stay here and watch over Private until you come back."

After that Skipper and Rico walked outside the old warehouse and into the night. There were a few stars in the sky and everything around them was quiet at the moment. They could barely make out the way to the zoo because of how dark it was. Skipper stopped in his tracks and looked back to the warehouse, millions of thoughts going through his mind at the same time. They had no weapons, no resources, they will run out of food soon, and they still hadn't found any cure for Private's fever.

He really wished he could undo all of this and everything would go back to the way it was before the day of abduction.

"Skipper?" He snapped back to reality when he heard Rico call for him.

"Sorry soldier, I've kindda spaced out. Let's go!" Skipper quickly slid on his belly followed by the weapon expert. When they reached the zoo it was guarded by almost thirty lobster guards. The main entrance and the exits were all blocked by them.

"Just how many of these guys are there?" Skipper muttered under his breath. They needed to find a way to sneak in without being caught, but how? Rico suddenly began to walk away from him to a different direction.

"Rico? Where're you going, soldier?" he asked. Rico looked back to him and motioned him to follow. Skipper was confused at first but decided to see where his teammates was going. They waddled into some bushes and found themselves staring at a big rock.

"A rock? How's that supposed to help?" Rico then smiled and slowly bushed the big rock aside. To his surprise there was a small hole there under it.

"Come on!" The manic exclaimed as he jumped down the hole. Skipper did the same. Inside the tunnel Rico upchucked the flash light from earlier and used it to light the way. They continued walking down the tunnel in silence until they reached the end of it. When they finally got out Skipper couldn't help but gasp.

"We're in the zoonier shop!?" he exclaimed as he looked at the familiar surroundings. Most of the stuff that used to be there was missing or knock over. He looked back to Rico with confusion. "How did you know this tunnel would lead us here? We didn't make it." he stated.

Rico simply shrugged. "I just do."

Skipper eyed him for a moment and sighed. "Okay. We need to find out where they're keeping Marlene and the others." he noted as they walked out of the door, but they were greeted with an unwelcoming sight. The whole zoo was a wreck!

It looked nothing like before and walls around the habitats were removed. They both continued walking until they heard someone coming their way. "Hide!" Rico and Skipper hid behind the corner as the rat king walked by, he looked angry.

"Who does that bird think he is? He's not the boss me. I do whatever _I_ want when _I_ want!" he growled as he went past them.

"Aw come on! this guy here too!?" Skipper groaned as he slapped his forehead. "Who else from my enemies do I need to see tonight?" They resumed looking out for enemies or zoo animals until they overheard two guards talking about some prisoners and mentioned an annoying lemur king. After getting the location the two quickly left.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Yes! Mort keep digging we are almost there!" King Julian said as he stroke his metal spoon to the concrete floor.

"Yes King Julian!" Mort replied and did the same with his.

Marlene and Maurice were watching the two with total boredom. "Julian does know this is getting us nowhere, right?" she asked him.

Maurice shrugged. "I don't think he'll ever know." Julian had been trying to break out of their cell for days and yet none of his attempts succeeded. Just then something flew through the window and landed on Maurice's head.

"Ouch! What was that!?" he muttered as he rubbed his head and looked down the item. Marlene picked the weird device and suddenly a voice spoke from it.

"_Hello? Can anyone hear me?"_

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Sorry for leaving a cliffhanger here, but I will try to update soon to see how they would react to this.**

**Now for the messages!**

**Aquade, the writer story and Skipper is Awesome thanks for reviewing/ following my story. You're reviews mean a lot to me. XD**


	4. Chapter 4 - Captured

**Chapter 4 – Captured**

**A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry for taking so long to update. I was planning to post this chapter sooner but I was really busy lately. Anyway, there will be some Skilene moments in this one and others in the future.**

**Enjoy the read.**

**PoM**

Kowalski was searching inside the boxes in the warehouse for anything they could use later. He would glance at the table where his PCD was, waiting for Skipper to call him and tell them how everything was going. Then he turned his attention to Private who was sleeping quietly on the floor. Walking over to him he removed the dry cloth and socked it with cold water again before putting back on his forehead.

"_I wished I could do more for you, Private"_ he thought. Suddenly Private's eyes cracked open and he groaned as he tried to get up.

"Private, you're awake!" Kowalski exclaimed with relief. "How do you feel?"

"A little dizzy I guess." he said weakly, rubbing the back of his head. The young penguin looked tired and drained. "What happened?"

Kowalski began explaining. "When Skipper and Rico left to get me those items I asked for you've collapsed on the floor. Skipper told me you had a fever so you shouldn't move a lot until you get better. Is there anything you need?"

"Some water please." he asked politely. Kowalski nodded and walked over to fill a cup of water for his friend. Just then he heard sobbing coming from behind him. Kowalski looked back to Private and saw tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," said Private between his sobs.

Kowalski looked at him confused. "Private, why are you crying? You didn't do anything to be sorry for."

"Yes I have!" Private replied. "I've been troubling everyone since day one. I got in the way when Skipper left to save you guys and now you're stuck here with me when we're supposed to be out there saving everyone!" he stated and continued to cry. Kowalski gave him sympathetic look, understanding how he felt. He placed his flipper around his back and tried to comfort him.

"Look Private, it's not your fault that I'm here. None of us see you as a burden. Private, I am a scientist and I know how sickness works. Remember that time when Skipper got sick but he refused to sit back while we trained or the time when Rico caught a cold and kept sneezing stuff out of his mouth for three days?"

Private nodded. "Yeah, he caused more damage to our base than Blowhole could do."

"See? We all get sick and there's no need to be ashamed about it. I stayed here not because I'm forced to. It was my own choice to stay and watch over you. I know how much you want to help but you won't be able to do much like this. Once you feel better the four of us will go together next time. Okay?"

Private slowly smiled at him. "Okay!"

Kowalski smiled back at him and handed him his cup of water. Then he looked over to the PCD on the table. It's been two hours since they left so why haven't they called him yet? He didn't want to tell Private about this because he'll freak out.

"_What's taking them so long?"_ he became worried.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"_Hello? Can anyone hear me?"_

Marlene stiffed at the sound of that voice. "S-Skipper...is that you?" she asked in disbelieve through the small device.

"_Of course it's me! Who else do you think?"_ His voice was calm and confident as always.

"Skipper, I'm so glad your back. I thought something bad happened to you guys. How did get in here anyway?" Marlene stated. She bit her lib to stop the tears in her eyes. She had longed to see him again.

"_Rico showed me this secret tunnel that helped us enter the zoo, but I don't know where it came from actually." _

Marlene raised a brow. "So you guys didn't make it?"

"_No and I don't know who else would do something like that. Anyway, is everyone alright in there? Did they hurt you or something?"_ Skipper asked.

"Yeah, we're all here. They didn't do anything to us so far; they just locked us in here." Marlene explained. "I'm scared, Skipper."

"_Well don't worry, Marlene. The boys and I are working on a plan to stop Hans and free all of you, but we'll need your help. I need you to update us on everything that's going on inside the zoo. If you found out anything call us as quick as possible, okay?"_

Marlene grinned. "Of course! Leave it to me."

"_Thanks, Marlene. I'll get you out of there. I promise."_ the leader said before he hung up. Marlene smiled as she looked down to the device in her hand. For the first time in days she felt safe.

"So what did he say?" Maurice asked. Marlene looked back and noticed the lemurs staring at her.

"He said he'll find a way to free us, but first we have to call them if something happened in the zoo." Marlene answered.

Julian's face lit up after hearing this. "Yes! I will finally be leaving this stinky place and go back to my kingdom."

"Isn't it _too_ early to be excited about this, you're majesty?" His right-hand man pointed out. Julian shrugged.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Skipper smiled down at his PCD before turning to Rico. "Let's go, Rico." he said. His teammate nodded and they made their way through the zoo without getting caught. When they reached Alice's office Skipper stopped when they heard someone talking in there.

"Have you found it yet?" Hans asked.

"Sorry, sir. We've searched everywhere in the penguin habitat and there's nothing in there." A lobster answered him. Skipper leaned closer to the wall as he listened to them.

"Skipper, Leave." Rico said as he pointed to the zoo shop where the secret tunnel was.

"Just wait a minute Rico. I wanna know what they're talking about." said Skipper and continued listening.

"I'm sure Skipper knows where it is. If only we could capture him and him tell us where-" before he could finish his sentence a loud shout was heard behind them.

"INTRUDERS!" Skipper jumped back in surprise and saw the lobster guard glaring at them. Immediately sirens went off and red lights flashing everywhere.

"Run!" Skipper and Rico turned around to escape but before they could a large net was dropped on them. They tried to get out but was late as twenty lobsters surrounded them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: NOOOO! They were so close of getting out of there. Now Hans caught them too. What will Skipper and Rico do? : C**

**Aquade and Othmaine thanks for reviewing/following my story.**

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Outside help

**Chapter 5 – Outside help**

**A/N: I can't believe how much positive feedback the last chapter got. Thanks for all the support you're giving me. Here's chapter five. :)**

**Enjoy**

**PoM**

Skipper and Rico slowly woke up, feeling groggy. When they looked around they both recognized the place as the zoo storage room. Everything was dark around them and only light source was a small light bulb hanging above them. The two penguins were tied up back to back.

"Rico, you okay buddy?" Skipper asked.

"Uh-huh!" Rico managed to say.

"Well, well. I'm glad to see you're finally awake Skippah." came Hans followed by some lobsters. "It's been so long since the last time we met. I actually thought you weren't coming back." he said with amusement in his tone.

Skipper scowled at him. "Like I'll let you invade our zoo, lock all our friends, and let you get away with it!" he yelled. Rico reacted the same and growled at the Danish puffin angrily. Hans simply smirked.

"It wasn't that hard, Skippah. With the four of you out of the picture taking over this place was easily done. It was all part of you my plan and you played right into it." he explained. "But having this place under my control isn't my only reason. There's more to it."

Skipper raised a brow in confusion. _"Why does he mean by that? What else could he want other than controlling the zoo?"_ he thought.

"Now tell me. Where is the vault?" Hans asked.

"Vault? W-What are you talking about?" Skipper said nervously. He knew exactly what Hans wanted.

"Don't test my patience Skippah! You know what I mean. There is a secret vault in your HQ and something 'special' is hidden inside it. Now tell me, where is it?" Hans growled.

"Seriously, I don't know anything about a secret vault! What do you even want to do with it anyway?"

"Fine, I will leave for now, but when I'm back I'll make you talk." he stated and clapped his flippers. The rat king then came out of the shade and stood in front of them. "Guard them while I'm gone." soon the puffin left with the lobsters leaving the three animals alone in the room.

Skipper sighed. "I'm sorry for not listening to you Rico. We should have escaped when we had the chance. Now we're stuck here and it's all my fault" he said guiltily

"It's okay. Skipper wants to help." Rico replied in a string of gibberish. Skipper gave a weak smile.

"Hey, pipe down!" The rat king yelled at them.

Skipper looked down thoughtfully. They needed to get out of here fast. Now that they knew the penguins are here Hans' minions will probably go looking for Kowalski and Private.

Then it hit him.

"Rico, I have an idea. Just follow my lead." he whispered to him. The rat king noticed this and raised a brow.

"Hey what're you two whispering about?" he asked.

"Nothing! I was just telling Rico that I'm surprised to see you working for Hans. I never thought he'll actually become your boss." he said.

The rat king tensed. "What? He's not my boss!"

Skipper shrugged. "I'm just saying that it's hard to believe the big ol' rat king would be taking orders from a small puffin."

"Weak," Rico grunted.

The rat's face turned red with anger. "SHUT UP! I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM HIM!"

Skipper pointed out. "But you're doing it right now."

The rat king paused and scowled. "Well not anymore." he stated and walked out of the room steaming.

The leader smirked. "Big, yes. Smart, not at all."

Rico then began biting the ropes until the two of them were free. After that he looked back to his leader. "What now?"

"I don't know. If we left they see us for sure. We need a distraction." And Skipper had one in mind.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kowalski was working on another invention when suddenly someone spoke through his PCD.

"_Hello, Kowalski. Do you read me?"_

The scientist quickly snatched the device and spoke through it. "Skipper, I'm so glad to hear your voice. Did you make it inside the zoo and where are you right now?"

"_Yeah about that…."_ Kowalski raised a brow. _"we managed to give Marlene the PCD, but we kindda got caught."_

Kowalski gasped. "YOU WHAT!?"

"_Don't worry. We're okay, but we'll need someone to distract the guards while we escape. Can you do it?"_

Kowalski thought for a moment and answered. "I'll try. I have an invention that might help."

"_Thanks and good luck."_ said Skipper and hung up.

Kowalski grabbed the invention he was working on and made his way to the door. He looked back to Private who was sleeping and smiled before leaving.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Skipper and Rico waited patiently inside the storage room for Kowalski's distraction. Suddenly there was loud explosion near the former otter habitat. Everyone who was outside went to see what happened.

"Let's go, Rico!" Skipper and Rico quickly slipped out of the room and made their way to the zoo shop through the commotion without being seen. When they were out of the zoo they met Kowalski in the park.

"Thanks for the help, soldier, but what exactly did you do?" asked Skipper.

"Well, after you told me about your situation I took the invention I was working on and tossed it over the zoo wall after activating it. Since it wasn't completed it exploded immediately." Kowalski explained proudly.

Skipper grinned. "Alright. Let's go back to the warehouse. We shouldn't leave Private on his own in there."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After sleeping for the rest of the night Skipper and Rico explained what they learned from their mission in the morning.

"So you're saying that Hans is looking for this 'vault' that might contain something important?"

Skipper nodded. "That what he said. I actually found it when we first came to the zoo, but I'm not sure who built it."

"Do you know what's inside it, Skippah?" Private asked curiously.

"No, I never managed to open it so I kept it hidden from everyone. If Hans wants it what's inside it than it can't be good."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: That's it for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Now we know what Hans is looking for inside the penguin HQ.**

**Now for the messages!**

**The writer story, Aquade, Swift Kitty, Just A Solitary Wolf, Moon and Venus, Mikadaphne28 thanks for reviewing and following my story. :D**

**Aquade: Thanks for the idea of the rat king moment.**

**Review Please!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Complications

**Chapter 6 – Complications**

**A/N: Here's chapter six. I hope you all will enjoy it.**

**PoM**

After having their breakfast of canned fish Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico began training. Skipper told them that they needed to stay in shape in case the enemy finds them. Since Hans knew the penguins were around and escaped from him their bound to look for them. When Private asked to join them Skipper made them do simple moves that won't damage his health more. When it was time for their break Kowalski followed Skipper to talk to him.

"Skipper, now that we gave the zoo animals a way to contact us what exactly should we do now?" he asked.

"I dunno. I guess we'll wait for Marlene to give us a call and tells if she found out anything about Hans' plan. If we went to fight them they'll easily beat us. All we could do now is stay prepared. Also…" he looked over to Private who was talking to Rico and he frowned. "I think it's time we go look for a medicine for Private." explained Skipper with concern.

Kowalski too looked over to Private and winced when the young penguin let out a loud cough, but he hid his pain with a smile. "You're right. If we don't do anything soon his condition might get worse. How about you and I go now?"

Skipper shook his head. "No, I need you to go and investigate that secret tunnel that Rico and I found near the zoo. Since we didn't build it someone else must have and I wanna know who it is." Kowalski thought for a moment and nodded in approval.

"Okay, I'll ask Rico to show it to me, but are you sure you can do this, Skipper?" Kowalski said which earned him a glare from his leader.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Skipper glared fiercely at him. Kowalski quickly shook his head nervously.

"N-Nothing! It's just that….eh…..are you sure you don't need someone to go with you? He clarified. Kowalski knew when it to come to something like this Skipper wasn't the right guy for the job.

His leader shrugged. "I'll be fine. Just write the medicine's name down and I'll get it for you."

"Okaaay…" Kowalski replied unsure about it. He pulled his new note pad and wrote the name of bottle before giving to Skipper. Once he was gone Kowalski walked up to Rico and asked him about it.

"Hey where is Skippah going?" asked Private when he came.

"He….went to get some supplies for the warehouse since we're running out of them." he lied. "Anyway, Rico and I will do some recon now. Stay here and watch over the place for us, okay?"

"Sure!" Private said cheerfully.

Kowalski and Rico then left the warehouse and made their way through the park where the shrubs were. Kowalski didn't want to lie to his young teammate but he didn't want him to worry him about their current situation. Rico then pushed the rock aside to reveal the tunnel.

"Is this it?" the scientist asked.

Rico nodded and upchucked a flash light. Once they were inside the tunnel Kowalski looked around in amazement. It was well made and by the looks of it the tunnel was built a long time ago. "_But_ _who would make something like this? Could it be Hans or maybe one of our enemies sometime before?"_ Suddenly something caught his attention. There was small box stuck into the wall of the passageway. Curious, the scientist looked over to the weapon expert.

"Rico, help me get it out!" he exclaimed. The two penguins then began digging it out with a couple of spoons. Once he pulled the box out small cracks suddenly appeared on the wall causing the celling to collapse over them.

"Look out!"

Rico yelled and pushed Kowalski out of the way when pile of rocks almost crushed him. Head spinning, Rico looked up to Kowalski who was lying on the ground unconscious. He hurried to his side and shook him to wake up. Kowalski opened his eyes and rubbed his sore head. When Rico pushed him he landed on the ground head first.

"You okay?" Rico looked at him with concern.

"Yeah I think. What happened?" Kowalski asked as he sat down. Rico then pointed to their exit that was now blocked by large rocks.

"Oh boy."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Skipper made his way through the city and reached the animals hospital, the same one that he took Private too when they found out he was sick. He jumped through the window and landed inside the room. He first searched the shelf where various colorful bottles stood.

"No, not this one, not this either. Yes…..wait no." he said quickly as he examined the bottles. He groaned in frustration and slapped his forehead when he had no luck. "Fish and chips! This could go on forever!" he exclaimed. Why didn't he let Kowalski come along when he had asked him? He could picture Kowalski laughing at him right now. Just then he heard the sound of foot stops coming his way. Wasting no time, he hid behind a big jar as two humans came in. The first was man with blonde short hair while the other was a woman with brown hair locks.

"Hey, where do you think that sick penguin we found two weeks ago went, doctor?" the woman asked him.

"I don't know. I've tried to call the Central Park zoo to see if they lost a penguin but they just won't answer my calls. He even didn't get enough treatment." the doctor explained.

"Which medicine did you give him anyway?" she asked curiously.

Walking over to the shelf where Skipper was the man took a small brown bottle and showed it before placing on the table. Skipper took the chance of both humans being distracted and snatched the bottle and left before they noticed him.

"Hey where did it go?" the man questioned.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, Kowalski and Rico were trying to dig their way out through the heavy rocks, but all their efforts were fruitless. Sighing, Kowalski sat down and looked down to the reason they were in this situation. "Well since we're stuck here for the time being let's see what's inside this box." Rico nodded in agreement and gave him a paper clip. He easily broke the lock with the paper clip and pulled a small piece of paper out of it.

Confused, Kowalski unfolded the paper and saw a series of numbers written in bold on it.

"**077895"**

The two exchanged glances in puzzlement. "What does that mean?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, in the zoo Hans was arguing with the rat king about yesterday's incident. "How could let them escape? I gave one simple task, to watch them while I'm gone and YOU LEFT THEM BEHIND!? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" the puffin yelled, his face red with anger.

"Look bird, no one tells me what to do. From now on I give the shots. Got it?" the rat stated with his arms crossed. Hans was about to protest when the rat aimed his fist at him.

The puffin panicked. _"This isn't good. I need to keep him on my side as long as possible. If I told the lobsters to attack him he'll have them for lunch! What do I do!?"_ Then an idea came to him.

"Y-You know what? You're right. You should be the boss." He said nervously. The rat king grinned smugly. "In fact the first thing you should do as our leader is to carry those crates into the storage room." he lied and gestured to the gorilla habitat where some wooden crates were.

The rat king shrugged. "Piece of cake!" he said and walked away.

Hans sighed in relief and shook his head. "Gullible." After that he went inside the penguin HQ. The bird gazed around with a thoughtful look on his face. "Where could they be hiding it?" he muttered to himself. Just then he noticed something off about the carpet in the middle base. Walking over he removed it and gasped. Right in front of him was a secret passage. He carefully removed the cover and descended down the hole. After minutes of walking through dull grey walls he was greeted with a sight that made his eyes go wide in shock.

The secret vault was there.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Things has gone more complicated for the penguins. Kowalski and Rico are stuck underground and Hans found the vault. What will happen next? Stay tuned for more.**

**Time for messages!**

**Mekadaphen28, Aquade, the writer story, Moon and Venus, Othmaine, Swift Kitty and Blue star-TMNT- Warriors thank you for reviewing/ following my fanfic. I'm glad you like my work. :)**

**Review please!**


	7. Chapter 7 - Secret code

**Chapter 7 – Secret code**

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for taking more time to update. I was really busy lately. Anyway, here's chapter seven.**

**Enjoy the read!**

**PoM**

Marlene woke up in her cell that morning; she looked around and saw all the three lemurs were awake too.

"Morning guys," she said. The trio greeted her back. She got used seeing them around every day. Soon the lobster guards came and began serving food to each animal in its cell. Wasting no time the lemurs dug into their bowl of fruit while Marlene stared at her plate of fish in thought. It's been almost two weeks since she and the other animals were locked up here and she got tired of it. She missed waking up in her habitat and having breakfast near her pool, she missed swimming and entertaining the guests. She wanted to go out and see Skipper and his teammates.

Maurice noticed she wasn't eating and raised an eye brow. "Marlene, you okay. You haven't touched your food." he pointed to the plate in front of her.

The otter snapped from her trance and looked up to him. "Oh I'm fine, it's just I miss my habitat a lot." she confessed sheepishly.

The lemur smiled. "Well don't worry. We won't be staying here for long."

This caught someone else's attention. "What are you talking about?" Mason asked confused. He and Phil were in the opposite cell from them.

"You don't know? The penguins are coming here!" King Julian said a little too loud. Every other animal in the prison heard him. Leonard who was in the cell next to them gasped.

"Are you kidding me!? Isn't already bad enough that we're trapped here? Now those penguins are coming to get us too!" the koala wailed.

"What no! Leonard, the penguins will help us. They're not coming to get anyone." Marlene explained.

"Help!? They launched me into the city and bombed my house TWICE!" Leonard shot back.

"Well I'm sure they didn't mean to. I know Skipper and the guys, they wouldn't do stuff like that intentionally." she stated. Leonard just huffed and looked away. Mason then returned to the main topic.

"So how did you know they are coming to rescue us?" he asked her.

Marlene grinned and showed him her PCD. "They came here yesterday and gave me this so I can call them if anything happened."

"But if they were here last night why didn't they just rescue us." Roger asked, peeking through the bars. His cell was on the right of Marlene and lemurs'.

The otter frowned. "They can't. There are too many enemies in the zoo. If they tried sneaking in here the guards might see them and warn Hans and his army." Mason nodded in understanding, but Roger had another question in mind.

"So….what are we supposed to do?" the alligator asked.

"We need to get as much information as we can on Hans' plan and his forces." she answered.

Maurice came next to her. "And how are we supposed to do that?" the otter looked over and saw a lobster guard passing by and an idea hit her.

"Hey, excuse me!" she called out. The lobster stopped in his tracks and came to her.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I was just wondering how many soldiers are in the zoo. Can you please tell me?" Marlene asked, giving the most innocent smiles she could make.

"Sorry but that's classified." the lobster replied.

The otter frowned. _"Déjà vu. That's what Skipper says to me all the time."_ she thought and rolled her eyes.

Maurice pointed out. "B-But we're all locked up here. We can't tell anyone even if we wanted to, right?"

Julian then spoke up. "YES! Especially not the pengu-"before he could finish Marlene elbowed him and chuckled nervously.

The lobster thought for a moment and sighed. "I guess it's alright if I told you. Well there are two hundred soldiers in this zoo." everyone's jaws dropped after that. "But most of us will leave tomorrow to look for Dr. Blowhole, no one seen or heard any new about him for a while now, so that leaves about fifty lobster to guard the zoo." he said before leaving them.

Everyone broke into excited grins. "Did you guys hear that?" Maurice exclaimed eagerly.

"Yeah, that's exactly what Skipper needs! I'm going to call him right now." Marlene stated. All the animals minus Leonard nodded in agreement. She took the PCD and pressed on the small red button on it before speaking through it.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Skipper has just came back from retrieving Private's medicine and was about to enter the warehouse when heard Marlene's' voice.

"_Skipper, can you read me?"_

Dropping his back bag on the ground, the leader quickly took his PCD from inside it and placed it close to his ear hole. "I hear you Marlene, is something wrong?"

He could hear her smiling through device. "_Great news, Skipper! I just talked to one of the lobster guards and he said that they're going to look for Blowhole tomorrow and only about fifty one will stay in the zoo. Can you believe our good luck!?_"

Skipper took in everything she said and a grin formed on his beak. "That's perfect; we can take Hans and his minions down and come to rescue you now. Thanks for the help Marlene. I owe you one." he stated gratefully.

"_Okay, bye!"_ she said and hung up. Smiling, he placed the device back into his back bag. He then entered the warehouse to see Private sitting on a wooden chair waiting for them.

"There you are Skippah, What took you so long? Did you find the supplies you need?" he asked curiously.

"Eh….yeah I did…also here's something I brought for you." he pulled the small brown bottle from his back bag and passed it to him. "Just drink from this every day and you'll get better." he said with confidence.

Private looked down to the bottle in his flipper, not know what to say until a smile crept on his beak. "Thank you Skippah, I appreciated it."

"No problem," his leader replied. Just then the door opened showing two penguins covered in dirt and dust. Skipper and Private stared at them befuddled.

"Whoa, what happened to you two!? You look like you've been rolling down a hill!" Skipper exclaimed in curiosity and confusion.

Rico and Kowalski eyed each other awkwardly before the scientist spoke. "Well we went down that secret tunnel to explore it, but….we caved in."

Private raised an eyebrow. "So how did you get out?"

"Rico had to dig us all the way to the surface with spoons." he pointed to Rico who grinned proudly. "Anyway, what is more important is that we found this metal box down there with a paper note inside It." he then passed the note to Skipper who examined it carefully.

"**007895"**

"What do you think this could mean? asked Skipper.

Kowalski rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "A lot of things, a hidden message, a time, or date, a code…." he froze as well as everyone when the sudden realization hit them hard.

"Wait, you don't think…" Private said, finally catching on.

"I'm sure it is. Think it about it, it all adds up. The secret tunnel, the vault, and now this note. Someone must have been living in our HQ before we came and built all this. This code is probably to unlock the vault and was hidden so no one will open it, but who could it be?" the scientist summed.

Skipper folded his flippers over his chest, serious. "We'll look onto that later. Marlene just called and said that most of Hans' minions will leave tomorrow which is our chance to go fight him and free all the animals."

"But Skipper the tunnel is blocked by rocks! How are we supposed to sneak in without getting any attention now?" Kowalski protested.

Skipper smirked. "We'll have to do it the old fashion way, Kowalski."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Well that's for this chapter. The story is clearly close to the end. Thanks you all for reading and supporting me so far. Don't forget to review. :D**


	8. Chapter 8 - Revealed

**Chapter 8 – Revealed**

**A/N: Hi everyone! I took me a while post this chapter because my computer has been acting weird lately, but I'm glad I managed to update so here it is!**

**Enjoy! **

**PoM**

Back in the zoo, Marlene was pacing back and forth in their cell with both excitement and anxiety. The other animals stared at her in confusion.

"Marlene, I understand that you're worried, but this isn't helping." Maurice said to her. Marlene stopped in her tracks and sighed. She knew the lemur was right, but she couldn't help it. What if Skipper and the others didn't make on time? What if something went wrong? She turned to her cellmates and nodded. Suddenly, she heard Skipper's voice.

"_Marlene, are you there?"_

"Yeah, what is it?"

"_Today's the day, Marlene. We're coming for you. Just stay alert at all time in case something went wrong and we need to abort, okay?"_ She could tell he was grinning through the device.

"Alright, good luck and be careful." she said.

"_I will, I promise." _he said before hanging up. Smiling, she put the PCD away and turned to her cellmates.

"So, what did he say?" asked Mason curious.

"Skipper said their coming for us." Marlene explained. She couldn't wait for that to happen so she could go back to her home, but deep down she felt something unexpected is going to happen while most of the animals cheered with Julian being the loudest after hearing that.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The penguin team meanwhile approached the zoo carefully without getting any attention from the people in the park. They watched from a tree branch as the gate was opened and Hans' lobster army left the zoo looking for their leader. "Alright men! Let's go!" Quickly they jumped down the branch and hurried into the zoo before the gate closed. Once they were inside they immediately went to hide before someone could see them.

"_So far so good…_" thought Skipper.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"8563920"

TOOT!

"Argh!" Hans groaned. Over the last two days he's been trying to figure out the code for the vault, but he failed every time. Sighing in defeat, he left the bunker and came to the surface on the concrete island. Suddenly, something caught his attention at the zoo gate where a black and white streak passed quickly. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining it and did a double take. Smiling evilly, he jumped down the hatch and entered Kowalski's lab.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Kowalski meanwhile followed his leader with his two teammates as they hid behind the former lemur habitat. Narrowing his eyes he looked around for any enemies and smiled. "Coast's clear!" he declared. His three friends sighed with relief.

"So what do we do now Skippah?" asked Private.

Skipper looked over to him. "We need to find Hans first and kick him and the rest of his minions out and then we'll free the zoo animals."

But that was easier said than done.

"Stop right there!"

Kowalski's feathers stood still as he turned around to the source of the yell and gasped when he saw about fifteen lobsters approaching them. _"Where did those come from?"_

Groaning, Skipper charged and punched the first lobster in the face sending him flying away. Kowalski and Rico did the same and fought the rest of them. One lobster manage to land a hit on Rico causing him to spill a hammer, a flash light and a folded piece of paper. Moments later, they defeated the group of enemies. Before any of them could react, Kowalski felt something hit him and a wave of energy travel through his body. He tried to move his body but he couldn't. _"What is this?" _he thought. The same thing happened to Skipper and Rico.

"Kowalski, what's going on?" Skipper muttered. They could barely move a muscle.

"Glad to see you've returned Skippah." Hans came grinning with a blue and green laser gun.

"Hey that's mine!" Kowalski yelled.

"I must say this paralyzing ray gun made capturing you much easier for me." Hans smirked. "You should hide your stuff better, Kowalski." The scientist blushed sheepishly as his leader glared at him. The puffin then raised a brow when he noticed something missing. "Hey, where's Private?" he asked. The team's eyes widen and looked around for their teammate. Hans was right. Private was gone!

Skipper nervously tried to think of an excuse. "Uh….we asked Private to….stay at our new hide out to guard it while we're gone, right boys?" Rico and Kowalski nodded nervously at their captor who seemed to be okay with the answer. Then he noticed something on the ground. The folded paper Rico dropped from the fight earlier.

"What is this?" he bent down and picked it up. The penguins gasped when they recognized it. He opened it and saw the bold numbers written on it.

Kowalski gulped. "OH t-that's nothing. Just a bunch of numbers I've wrote. You know, science stuff." he lied. Hans wasn't convinced with that answer and looked at it again. Then it came to him.

"Of course! This is the code for the secret vault!" Hans exclaimed. "I knew you had it all along. Now I just have to insert this and I'll finally have what I came for!" After he tied each one of them with a think rope he turned to a new group of lobsters and gave the command. "Lock them in their own cell and make sure this time they don't get out!" he said sternly as he headed to the penguin habitat. Saluting, the lobsters took the three paralyzed penguins and locked them in a dark cell, but instead of steel bars there was a metal door.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Hans hastily made his way down into the bunker and stood in front vault. He then copied the code from the note to the key pad. With a loud clank from the locks, the metal circle-shaped door slowly opened. He ignored all the books and files inside it and snatched a card board box from there. Without hesitation he opened the box and saw his prize. Inside it was a chemical vial with a light blue liquid that glow an eerie light.

"So Blowhole was right about this. " Hans smiled in triumph as held it in his flippers. He climbed to the surface and went to his minions to call a meeting for an important announcement.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Skipper was grumbling under his breath. The _one_ time Kowalski's inventions don't fail is when they're used against them. Now Hans was going to get what he wants and they couldn't stop him. All they did in the last three weeks from saving Kowalski and Rico from Blowhole to contacting Marlene in her cell was for nothing.

"I'm sorry, Skipper. I should have hid my invention somewhere safer." said Kowalski in guilt. The paralyzing ray effect finally wore off.

Skipper shook his head. "No, It's not your fault soldier so don't blame yourself. I should have expected Hans would use our weapons against us." the leader explained. What really worried him where did Private go? He was there when they first came. Just then there was sound of fighting outside and a knock on the door.

"Skippah, are you there?" a British voice asked from beyond the walls.

"Private?" the three of them said in unison.

Suddenly, the door opened showing the youngest penguin staring at them worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Skipper, Rico and Kowalski exchanged confused looks. "Yeah, we're fine, but how did you get here? Where have you been?" asked Kowalski.

Private smiled. "Well, when Hans' minions came I went to hide so they won't capture me. Then I followed them here to free you, but I had to fight the guards first." he explained and went to untie them. He first freed Skipper, then they freed Rico and Kowalski.

"Well done, Private! We all owe big time!" exclaimed Skipper and then looked serious. "Now let's hurry and stop Hans!" Nodding in approval the four penguins quickly made their way outside.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing and reading this chapter. Only two more chapters left! I'm so excited XD**


	9. Chapter 9 - Face off and freedom

**Chapter 9 – Face off and freedom**

**A/N: Here it is, the final battle. I hope you all ready for this. :D**

**PoM**

"Hurry up!" Skipper yelled for his teammates after they escaped their cell. They had to get there before it's too late. They had to stop him. Skipper thought as they hastily slid through the zoo.

"Hey, look!" one of the lobster guards shouted when he saw them passing them. "Sound the alarm!" soon enough sirens went off and an army of lobsters came after them. Rico and Private exchanged looks and stopped.

"What are you doing?" asked Kowalski.

"Rico and I will hold them off. You two go and stop Hans!" said Private, taking a fighting stance. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Kowalski turned to Skipper with a worried look on his face. Skipper nodded.

"Okay, just be careful." Skipper replied. Rico and Private both nodded. Wasting no time, Skipper and Kowalski hurried to the zoo center where Hans was. He was standing in front of his troops with the blue vial in his flippers. The rat king stood next to him with his arms crossed and a solemn look on his face.

"Stop!" Skipper yelled at them. Everyone turned to him and gasped, surprised to see them here.

Hans growled. "Of course Skippah escapes! You never stayed locked up!" he then turned to his troops. "What are you waiting for, capture them!" he ordered. The lobsters quickly charged at them. Skipper took on the first one and kicked him to the face, then he grabbed the other by the tail and flung into the others. While the two penguins were distracted Hans took it as a chance to use the chemical. But before he could a large hand came down and snatched it from him.

"Huh?!" he looked up and saw the rat king holding the bottle with an annoyed look. "What are you doing?"

"Why should you have this? I am the boss here, right?" he replied.

"But it's mine! I found it first and therefore it belongs to me!"

"Here's what _I_ know, if anyone should drink this it should be _me_." ignoring the puffin's protests, he opened the bottle and drank the blue liquid inside it. Hans' beak dropped in disbelieve. They all watch the rat king as his fur turned a shade of blue, his claw grew extra-long, and he grew in size. He let out an angry roar and glared at the crowd around him. His eyes gazing fiercely at them. He roared again before heading out and thrashing everything in his way. He went for the animal habitats and began wreaking havoc.

"We gotta stop him before he destroys the rest of the zoo!" Skipper exclaimed, worried. "You go fight Hans and leave the rest for me."

Kowalski looked unsure for a moment. "Are you sure you don't need my help, Skipper. He's seems stronger than before." he explained.

His leader smirked. "It's alright. I can take him." the scientist hesitated but soon left. Skipper spun around and quickly went after the monster version of the rat king. He was in the middle breaking the walls of the lemur habitat. Skipper jumped into the air and landed a hit on his head. Instead of hurting him it only succeeded in making him even more upset. He picked up a piece of rubble and flung it to him.

Skipper rolled out of the way and dodged it in the right moment. "Hey, you! Come and get me!" Growling, the rat charged at him and raised his arm to crush him. Skipper avoided it and punched him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kowalski was in the middle of fighting Hans; he fell on his back when he was punched in the chest. He stood up and looked over to Skipper who was surprisingly putting up a fight so far. Then he turned to Hans with determinant glare.

"What were you planning to do with that liquid and how did you know it was here?" he asked, confused.

"Dr. Blowhole asked me to infiltrate the penguin base and steal a secret file from there. It told us about the secret vault and the chemical. Blowhole and I wanted to use it to create an unstoppable army and they were going to help us rule the city, but you, Skipper, and the rest of your team ruined everything we planned for!" he snarled and send another punch to him. Kowalski dodged it and knocked him out with a round house kick.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Skipper bent down as he avoided another attack from the rampaging rat king. The penguin was slightly bruised and had cuts under his feathers due to receiving a few hit from him. Kowalski was right, he is stronger than he used to be, but he couldn't give up. Everyone was counting on him to win this fight. He had promised Marlene he'll come to save them and couldn't let them down. With a heavy grunt, he stood up and charged at the mutant rat and punched him in the face again. The large rat growled and kicked him, sending him flying into the ground.

The rat king walked closer to finish him when suddenly something hit him on the back and he soon fell out cold. Raising an eye brow in confusion, Skipper looked ahead and saw Rico and Private waving to him with strange looking guns. He then looked at the rat king and noticed three darks were stuck on his shoulder. He soon realized what happened and smiled at them. Kowalski then came panting after beating Hans and tying him.

"Skipper, are you okay?' he asked.

Skipper grinned. "I've been through worse," then he turned to Private and Rico. "Just how many times are you going to save me today?" he said smirking.

Private rubbed his neck sheepishly "As much as needed." he looked back to the rat king and frowned. "What are we going to do with him?"

Kowalski rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I think I can mix up an antidote to turn him back to normal."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Marlene meanwhile, waited silently in their cell along with the other animals. They heard the sirens go off, the fighting, the sounds of smashing, and then everything was suddenly quiet. She could tell everyone was worried, but she knew the only thing they could do now is waiting and see what will happen. Just then the door opened allowing some light to enter; four small figures walked smiling at them. Every animal broke into cheers at the sight of their salvation, even Leonard looked slightly relieved to see them.

"Alright, boys. Let's get them out of here." Skipper grinned. The four penguins then broke all the locks on every cell allowing them to get out after three weeks of being locked in there. Skipper went for Marlene and the lemurs' cell and broke the lock on it.

Julian beamed. "I'm free! Thank you penguins, this place is terrible. I can't wait to be back to my kingdom."

Skipper rolled his eyes. "It's good to see you too Ringtail." he said halfheartedly.

"Maurice, Mort, let's go. I am craving for a smoothie right now." he said and walked away.

"Yes King Julian!" Mort followed him. Maurice however stayed and turned to Skipper, smiling.

"Thanks, Skipper. I don't know what could have happened to us if you didn't come back." he said, acknowledging him,

Skipper shrugged. "It's no big deal. We've been through stuff worst this." the lemur nodded and went after his king. Skipper then turned to Marlene. A moment of awkward silence passed between them.

She looked down to his wounds and frowned. All four penguins had injuries somewhere, but Skipper had the most. He had bruises, cuts under his feathers and a black eye. She felt really bad for him especially since he got them because of them. "Sorry you guys had to go through all of that for us."

Skipper smirked. "I told you I would save you no matter it takes and that's what I did." he said. The next she did caught him off guard as she walked over and hugged him making him blush slightly.

"Thanks Skipper."

"No problem."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Yay! One more chapter and the story will be completed. Thanks for supporting me and my story. You guys are the best!**


	10. Chapter 10 - Restoration

**Chapter 10 – Restoration**

**A/N: This is it! The final chapter of Away From Home. I hope you all enjoy it.**

**PoM**

_Two days later_

Alice was instructing zoo workers as they loaded crates of supplies into the zoo to rebuild it. She hasn't gone to work for three weeks and when she comes back the whole place is a wreck! How did this happen anyway? Who or what did this? She thought and she eyed the penguin habitat suspiciously. She knew they had something to do with it. Those penguins have always seemed involved whenever something weird happens in her zoo. There is something unnatural about them, but she didn't know what. Sighing, she looked over to the two men carrying a box and groaned.

"Hey, watch it! Those supplies cost us a lot, ya know!" Alice yelled and walked to them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Skipper meanwhile sat in their HQ, his chest and right flipper were wrapped with bandages. He looked over to Private who was sweeping the floor cheerfully. When they cleared the zoo from Hans' troops they found their HQ a complete mess! It will take them a while to clean it up though, but still…has it really been three weeks since they lost their zoo? It felt longer than that. Saving his teammates from Blowhole, the invasion, living in the warehouse and breaking into the zoo in the middle of the night. It felt more like months to him.

"_So much has happened in such a short time, but it's good to be home again…"_ Skipper thought. Just then Rico and Kowalski came down the hatch.

"How did it go?" he asked. Kowalski smiled.

"I've managed to make an antidote for the rat king that changed him back to normal and Hans was sent back to the Hoboken zoo. Also I've used my memory eraser to whip his memories of the secret file he stole and won't remember anything that happened when he raided our home." he explained.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Hans slowly opened his eyes, rubbing the sleep from them. Looking around, he noticed he was in his habitat in the Hoboken zoo with his neighboring habitats around him. His mind was fuzzy and he couldn't remember anything from the last few weeks. Everything was a blur, but what is this nagging feeling that he's forgetting something?

Rubbing the back of his head, the puffin shrugged. "It's probably not important." he said and stood up. Now he needs to work on a new way to get his revenge on the penguins.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"That's good to know." Skipper replied, taking a sip from his coffee.

"Hey guys!" Marlene greeted as she jumped down the hatch. "We're having this party after the zoo closes today for getting back our homes, wanna come?" she asked.

The three penguins turned to Skipper with hopeful looks on their faces. Thinking for a moment, Skipper nodded. "Alright, we'll be there."

"_Yay! Party!_" Rico exclaimed with glee. His two other friends cheered with him excited. Smiling, Skipper shook his head at them and turned to Marlene and noticed something off with her.

"Marlene, is something wrong?" he asked concerned.

Marlene looked up to him and sighed. "I'm fine, it's just that I still feel bad that you guys got hurt trying to save our homes while we did nothing to help you." she said, gesturing to the bandages around his chest. "Maybe if we're capable of defending ourselves from the beginning none of this would have happened." she explained with guilt in her eyes.

Skipper stayed quiet, taking in everything she said before he spoke again, only this time with a serious look in his blue eyes. "Look Marlene, you shouldn't blame yourselves for what had happened. We saved everyone and that's all that matters right now. Yeah, we got hurt, but protecting the zoo is our job so it's okay. And you DID help us through this, remember? You told us when was the best time to come."

A small grin appeared on her face and she nodded. Skipper always knew how to encourage her in a way which was something she really liked about him.

"Well, I guess you're right. "

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

When the last zoo worker left for the night, all the animals came out of hiding and decorated the place. Bright lights shined in the dark around them and sound of music from Julian's boom-y box filled the air.

Skipper, Rico, Kowalski and Private stood with Marlene enjoying everything in the party. They were all having fun for the first time in weeks.

Private sighed. "It's a shame we didn't get to find out who used to live in our habitat before we came. I really wanted to know though."

Skipper turned to him and smirked. "Don't worry Private. We'll go inside that bunker first thing in the morning. Maybe we'll find something in there." Rico shifted uncomfortably in the back of the group. When they went to join everyone he went back to their HQ instead and came out with a box filled with books and files in it. Everything that was once in the vault was now secured inside it. Wasting no time, he made his way out of the zoo and into the night with the box with him. Just then, a penguin came from behind a tree. He had the same figure as Skipper with a mohawk like his own and wore dark glasses.

"Hello Rico," Jake said calmly. "Is that everything?"

"Uh-huh." Rico nodded, handing him the small box. The mystery penguin examined it carefully and grinned at him.

"Thank you. I thought my research would be safe in the vault in the penguin habitat, but I guess I was wrong." he stated. "Anyway, I better send this back to the penguin main base now. Bye." with that Jake soon left. Rico smiled and walked back to the zoo with many thoughts going through his mind. As much as he wanted to tell his teammates about this, he knew it's for the best for them to not know right now.

_But he'll tell them when the time is right_

**The end**

**A/N: And done! I finally managed to finish the story and I had lots of fun writing it. I'm also glad many of you liked it as much as I did. Thank you for all your support and the reviews you gave my fanfic.**

**Like I said in the summary, Rico knows more than he tells. He knew about the tunnel, the vault, the chemical, and the former resident of the penguin habitat but he didn't share those secrets with his friends because he was waiting for the right time for it like when he showed Skipper the secret tunnel that would lead them inside the zoo when they needed it.**

**Sadly, this is the last long PoM fanfic I'd make for now. I will still write one-shots and short stories but they won't be long like this one and the previous stories. **

**Now I would like to thank everyone who reviewed for Away From Home.**

**Aquade**

**The writer story**

**Mikadaphne28**

**Treemist1022**

**Hope and struggle**

**Othmaine**

**Swift kitty**

**Blue star-TMNT-Warriors**

**Moon and Venus**

**Just A Solitary Wolf**

**and Skipper is awesome**

**Until next time and don't forget to review! :D**


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